Life, 1886-07-29 · page 12 of 16
Life — July 29, 1886 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Satire: "The Anti-Barnacle Valve" This is a humorous mock-scientific proposal addressing a genuine Victorian-era shipping problem: barnacles fouling ship hulls, which reduced speed and increased fuel costs. The shipping industry offered real rewards for effective prevention solutions. Life's satire invents an absurd "remedy": a deck-mounted retort filled with powdered asafetida (a notoriously foul-smelling plant resin used medicinally) that sprays the noxious powder through tubes to the ship's bottom. The joke relies on exaggeration—claiming the stench would repel barnacles from "four and a quarter miles" away. The cartoon above shows people (likely scientists or sailors) attempting this ridiculous contraption with lassoing implements, illustrating the impracticality. The satire mocks both pseudo-scientific solutions and the desperation of shipowners seeking any remedy, no matter how absurd, for this costly problem. The note attributing the invention to "Wallace Peck" suggests this is Life's own fabrication.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SEA SPECIALTIES. THE ANTI-BARNACLE VALVE. ] N the shipping world large rewards have been offered for any compound or coating that will effectually prevent barnacles from attaching themselves to the bottoms of ves- sels. LIFE now begs to submit a remedy, viz.: The Anti-Barnacle Valve. This machine consists of a large retort (to be placed on deck) to which are fastened a number of fine tubes. These tubes are extended to the bottom of the ship, where their funnel-shaped mouths point in various directions. ° The retort above is kept filled with powdered asafetzda—that drug which even a hearty, buxom polecat will shun, casting on it a glance of envy as he naively sheers off. An internal fan-wheel forces --= this pulverized asafetzda down through the pipes, causing the drug to finally issue from the mouths below in sprays as fine as those that come from the scent syringe—but how different as regards odor ! Certainly, with this ma- chine in motion, no self- respecting, bottom-clinging barnacle, could be induced to come within four and a quarter miles of the vessel. N. B,—Trans - Atlantic steamship companies are hereby warned that this invention is covered by pat- ents. Wallace Peck. comicbooks.com